Friday, August 8, 2014

Rents on the Rise in Minnesota

Finding an
affordable place to rent has gotten more difficult, and not just in the Twin
Cities, a new set of county-by-county housing profiles finds.

Minnesota
Housing Partnership's 2014
County Profiles reveal that affording rent is now more difficult for
renters than it was in the year 2000 in all but three of Minnesota's 87 counties. Rising rents and
falling incomes for renters are to blame.

Since 2000,
Minnesota's median rents have risen by 6%,
while incomes for renters have fallen by 17%.

This
pattern plays out in most of the state's counties, with median rents rising in
all but six counties, and renter incomes falling in most. The gap between rents
and incomes has worsened in all but three Western Minnesota counties (Wilkin, Marshall, and
Stevens) since 2000.

When rents
grow unaffordable, lowest income renters are at particular risk of experiencing
homelessness. Statewide, homelessness has risen for groups like seniors and
children.

“Vulnerable
seniors and children are, unfortunately, far from immune to homelessness,” said
ProfilesChip Halbach, Executive Director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership.
“In the area of housing we have a responsibility to those who have built our
communities, and to those who will create the communities of the future.”

The CountyProfiles, produced annually by MHP, take a comprehensive look at data
for housing, including homelessness, the housing stock, costs to rent and own,
and workers’ wages. Profiles for Minnesota’s 87 counties and the state as a
whole, as well as charts, maps, and analysis, are available at the
MHP website.